Ruïnes van de tempel van Jupiter in Baalbek, Libanon 1867 - 1885

This is Félix Bonfils’ photograph of the Ruins of the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek, Lebanon. Bonfils was part of a wave of 19th-century European photographers who traveled to the Middle East, documenting ancient sites and contemporary life through a colonial lens. His work reflects the complex power dynamics inherent in the act of representation. The grandeur of the Roman ruins, once a symbol of imperial power, contrasts sharply with the state of decay captured by Bonfils' camera. In this photograph, the Temple becomes a stark reminder of the transience of power and the fallibility of empires. What does it mean to witness the ruins of a civilization through the eyes of another culture? Bonfils' image invites us to consider our own relationship to history, to the stories we tell about the past, and to the ways in which those stories shape our understanding of the present. It is a photograph of loss, of time, but also of the enduring human impulse to build, to remember, and to leave our mark on the world.